RITUALS
Greeting people
Greeting people in most of Albanian families depends on how close you are with the person.
With my close family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles,...) we, the younger people, hug them. To the men, we women give them a hand or sometimes we don't even give them a hand but we always ask how they are, how their wives are and children. To the women we give kisses with a sort of hug and we also ask them how they are, their husbands and their children. The men on the other hand always just give a hand to the other men and only ask how they are and to the women they sometimes give a hand and sometimes not, it depends who it is.
Turkish tea
Albanians drink a lot of tea, especially Turkish tea, not a day goes by when tea is not drunk. Turkish tea or çaj in Albanian is a form of black tea brewed using a double teapot.
This tea came to the Balkans via the Ottoman Empire, and the Balkans loved it.
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. In that month, Muslims fast that entire month from sunrise to sunset.
Fasting is seen as a form of purifying the soul and thanking God for all he has given. Ramadan teaches people self-discipline and Muslims feel and show solidarity with poor and hungry people around the world. Thus, one feels what it is like to have no food. One must also do good deeds during the month such as giving money to charities, poor people,...
This month is so imported because it also brings families back together.
Fasting is good for so many things. If you want
to know some of the benefits of fasting, you can watch
this video: The video
Eid Al Adha and Eid Al Fitr
As my family and I are Muslims we only celebrate the Islamic holidays. We have two in total, Eid Al Adha and Eid Al Fitr. Eid Al Fitr is celebrated at the end of Ramadan and Ramadan is the holy month when Muslims fast.
Muslims celebrate Eid Al Fitr together with the whole family and friends, but they shouldn't forget the poor and also must think of them and feed them, this also applies to Eid Al Adha.